Parent
by St. Harridan
Summary: Kenpachi is in denial. Pre-series.


"But you're her father, aren't you?"

Kenpachi hates it whenever they ask him that. He feels like gorging out their eyeballs and stabbing them with forks. Because, frankly speaking, he really isn't the brat's dad. At all. They aren't related by any way. They don't even _look _alike, yet he gets adoring expressions from some people of the village because he has a pink-haired child with sticky candy all in her face and hair and hands in his arms.

_Blind assholes just can't leave a man alone._

He's stopped wondering just what drives them to switch so fast from their horror upon seeing him to a couple of starry-eyed idiots. The terrible revelation came to him soon enough when an old woman from the 39th District approached him to offer a bottle of warm milk. It worked wonders in calming the wailing brat. She'd smiled and given him a few tips on how to care for a kid and whatnot, even going as far as commending him of his obvious protectiveness for "his child."

_His child. _

Kenpachi had a good laugh at that.

He finds it humiliating, at the very least, when his status as the godforsaken, feared "demon" is trimmed down to nothing but "doting father." Ideas of abandoning her whiz through his thoughts day in and day out, some even making him grin as he imagines a shitload of money being thrust in his face when he strikes a bargain with some rich pansy.

But, to this day, he still hasn't done anything. He still has her and she's still hanging on to his shoulder for transport. He still has to put up with her whining and crying in the dead of night, still has to cradle her in his arms till she calms down and falls back to sleep. And in the morning his eyes would be bloodshot and his pace would be sluggish because he stayed up the whole night to make sure no danger came to her – to _them_.

And he has no idea why he even puts up with her.

"She's not my kid," he growls at the woman who's been baby-talking to Yachiru all this while. She blinks up at him, confused, and then nods. He can see in her eyes that she's still sceptical about it. He leaves just the right sum of money on the table to pay for their meagre lunch, hoists Yachiru onto his shoulder and stalks out into the hot mid-day sun.

"Keeen-chaaan." She pulls at the back of his collar and points at the shop not far down the street. One look and already he's walking in the other direction, gritting his teeth at the whines and collar-pulling she's doing.

"Shut up, brat. Keep eatin' candy like this and see what happens to yer teeth. Remember what that old hag said?" He can't even believe that he actually remembers the tips the old woman gave to him. One of the most important things is that he should refrain from giving her too much candy to ensure the proper growth of her teeth. Or something along those lines.

But she keeps pulling and whining. People in the street are starting to stare with disapproving looks on their faces that Kenpachi just can't stand. And so, to avoid spilling more blood, he whirls around and marches right into the candy store and lets Yachiru have her way. She zigzags through the aisles like a mad dog on the run and is soon gone from sight.

Kenpachi leans a shoulder against the doorframe, back facing the store, and glares at nothing in particular with his arms crossed over his chest. Minutes drag on, and he can no longer repress his agitation. They're now close to the Seireitei and he wants to get a move on so that they can be there in a day or two. He's perfectly aware that they need some new clothes to replace these filthy rags, and his money pouch is more or less empty.

"Yachiru, let's go." He turns at the same time the shopkeeper, a young girl just half his height, hollers out to him in panic. He wheels around, eyes searching, and rushes to where she's waving from the aisle furthest to the back. When he gets there, he has to suppress the curses that are already sitting on the tip of his tongue. Yachiru's sitting there with a couple of boxes strewn out about her, colourful wrappers thrown haphazardly, sticky candy all in her face and hair, mouth and hands.

She blinks up at him and grins like nothing is out of the ordinary.

"_Yachiru_!" He quickly picks her up off the floor and holds her to his chest, restraining her from jumping back down to her feast. To the girl, who looks so stunned that she can only stare up at him, he says, "Sorry 'bout that. It's the kid, she…she just likes her snacks."

The back door bursts open, shocking the girl and almost making Kenpachi jump out of his skin. Out rushes a plump woman with her wet hair bound in a towel on top of her head and her lipstick in a hand. Her cheeks are flushed, probably from a hot shower, something Kenpachi hasn't known for so long.

"What is it?" Her eyes are wild as they search the store, but upon a nudge she receives from the girl (Kenpachi guesses that it's her daughter), they come to settle on him and Yachiru and then travel down to the mess on the floor. She stares at it for a while – to Kenpachi, it seems like forever as he worries about his money – and then looks up at him. There isn't a sign of fear or puzzlement in her gaze. Oddly enough, Kenpachi finds a soft hint of understanding, even reassurance, in her dark eyes, something that he doesn't find often in people who look his way.

"It must be difficult to be a parent," she says, rather bluntly, red lips barely moving around the thin, smoking pipe in her mouth.

Kenpachi looks at Yachiru, who's holding onto his haori with her tiny fists and beaming proudly at him with her mouth smelling sickly of strawberry and grape and a host of other flavours that he just can't place. When he turns back to the woman, he can see that she's trying hard to fight down a smile.

Finally, Kenpachi sighs in defeat and drapes Yachiru over his shoulder like a sack of rice.

"Ye have _no _idea."


End file.
